HOW TO GO TO CONFESSION
Before Receiving the Sacrament

Act of Sorrow (Optional)

O my God, I thank you for loving me.
I am sorry for all my sins,
for not loving others and not loving you.
Help me to live like Jesus
and not sin again . Amen
 

Prayer for Forgiveness (Optional)

O my God, help me to remember the times
when I didn’t live
as Jesus asked me to.
Help me to be sorry and to try again.
Amen

Spend some time quietly thinking about what you will confess.
You can use the Examination of Conscience to see how you are living the Commandments.
Say a prayer to the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you make a good Confession.
Wait quietly until it is your turn to enter the confessional.

Steps in the Sacrament of Penance

(Individual) 1. Sit with the priest or go into the confessional.

Begin by saying, “Bless me Father for I have sinned.”
2. Say, “This is my first confession.” (For parents: “It has been ……… since my last confession.”)

3. Tell your sins to the priest and end by saying “For these and for all my sins, I am sorry.”

4. The priest gives you a penance – something you do in order to make up for your sins and to show that you want to change your life.

5. The priest invites you to tell God how sorry you are. You pray the Act of Contrition.

ACT OF CONTRITION
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend with your help, To do penance, to sin no more And to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Saviour Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy.

6. The priest prays the prayer of absolution. If you are making your Confession face-to-face, the priest will extend his hands over your head while he prays.
As the priest blesses you, make the sign of the cross and answer, “Amen.”

7. The priest says, “Go in peace.”
After Receiving the Sacrament, return to your pew and pray.

 

Prayer after Forgiveness (optional)

O my God thank you for forgiving me.
Help me to love others.
Help me to live as Jesus asked me to.
Amen

BEFORE ATTENDING MASS examine your conscience.   Be truly sorry and repentant.

The Confiteor (Your child should know):

I confess to almighty God. And to you, my brothers and sisters,
That I have sinned through my own fault,
In my thoughts and in my words,
In what I have done
And in what I have failed to do;
And I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,
All the angels and saints,
And you my brothers and sisters
To pray for me to the Lord our God.
Amen

A power granted by Christ

It was on Easter Sunday evening that Jesus appeared to his Apostles, gathered together in the Upper Room, where they had eaten the Last Supper. As they gaped and shrank back in a mixture of fear and dawning hope, Jesus spoke to them reassuringly.

Let St. John (20:19-23) tell it:

Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, 'Peace be to you!' And when he had said this he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore rejoiced at the sight of the Lord. He therefore said to them again, 'Peace be to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' When he had said this, he breathed upon them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.'

To paraphrase our Lord's words in more modern terms, what he said was this:

As God, I have the power to forgive sin. I now entrust the use of that power to you. You will be My representatives. Whatever sins you forgive, I shall forgive. Whatever sins you do not forgive, I shall not forgive.

Necessary after Baptism

Jesus knew well that many of us would forget our brave baptismal promises and commit grave sins after our Baptism. He knew that many of us would lose the grace, the sharing-in-God's-own-life which came to us in Baptism.

Since God's mercy is infinite and unwearying, it seems inevitable that he would provide a second chance (and a third and a fourth and a hundredth if necessary) for those who might relapse into sin.